Iberian Lawyer July August 2013 Special Focus Latin America July 2017 | Page 3

Special Focus: Latin America
Reasons for cheer
More global law firms are
expected to set up shop in
Central America with some of
the best growth opportunities
for law firms and investors
alike to be found in Costa
Rica, which is forging a
reputation as one of the
best countries in
the region in
which to base
businesses –
indeed, the
outlook for the
entire region
looks bright,
with a significant
number of law firms
anticipating healthy
increases in revenue in the
coming year
As foreign investment in the
country increases year-on-year,
and given that the nation has
a stronger economy than that
of its neighbours, Costa Rica is
currently offering very promising
growth opportunities for law
firms. A new survey of lawyers
in Central America conducted by
The Latin American Lawyer found
that Costa Rica is currently the
star performer among the Central
American countries covered by
the Dominican Republic-Central
America free trade agreement (DR-
CAFTA) – those countries being
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, as well as
the Dominican Republic.
Given its current pre-eminence
in the region, foreign investors are
choosing Costa Rica as a base from
which to expand their operations
to neighbouring countries. “Costa
Rica continues to be a jurisdiction
in which investors start their
business to then grow throughout
Central America,” says Diego
Martin, an El Salvador- based
partner at regional law firm
Consortium Legal. This echoed
the sentiment of many of the
lawyers who participated in the
www.iberianlawyer.com
survey, with a total of 40 per cent
identifying Costa Rica as the DR-
CAFTA country that offers the best
growth opportunities.
Legal market growth
According to a June 2017 report
by the International Monetary
Fund, Costa Rica’s economy is
currently growing at a rate of 4.25
per cent. This was borne out by
The Latin American Lawyer survey,
in which respondents from Costa
Rica highlighted rises in M&A
and real estate transactions as
major generators of instructions
for law firms. Mariano Batalla,
partner at Batalla in Costa Rica,
predicts a growth in legal services
in the country – as well as the
wider region – with most of the
increase driven by the creations
of new service lines and the more
efficient use of resources across
practice areas such as banking
and finance, corporate and M&A
and dispute resolution. Mauricio
Salas, partner at BLP in Costa Rica,
added that compliance, growing
awareness of the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act (FCPA), the increasing
sustainability of companies, in
addition to employment-related
arbitration were emerging trends
that would be drivers of growth at
law firms.
In this context, a key challenge
for law firms is keeping up-to-date
with market developments and
the changing legal requirements
of clients, according to Susana
Vásquez, corporate affairs and
legal director at Stein Corp in
Costa Rica. She added that it
was also vital that firms ensure
that the quality of legal services
is standardised throughout the
region.
Incentivising investment
Elsewhere in the region, the
Dominican Republic’s economy
has also been performing
reasonably well in recent years,
says Joanna Bonnelly, senior
associate at Pellerano & Herrera,
in Santo Domingo. The country
has introduced a number of
measures including tax incentives
for renewable energy and
filmmaking, among others, in an
attempt to attract more investment,
particularly from private equity
firms, Bonnelly adds.
Meanwhile, Mary Fernández,
founding partner at Dominican
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